City Lit - Professor Otele
I am currently participating in the 2024 Minerva Board Prospects Program. The program is designed to give participants an opportunity to join a board as a non-voting member for at least one year with the view to join the Board full-time. I am so grateful to have been placed with City Lit. Honestly, as a self-identified bibliophile and someone who believes that it is never too late to retrain; City Lit embodies that. It is an adult learning institution that offers several in-person or online courses that cover subjects such as art and design, music, dance, history, writing, computing, massage, languages and much more. There are so many people who have attended classes at City Lit and have been become award winning writers such as Malorie Blackman OBE who has written over 50 books and is known as one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. Malorie has taken courses since the 1980s. Friendly reminder that it is never too late.
After our board meeting, we were given the opportunity to attend a talk that was led by City Lit’s CEO, Mark Malcomson CBE, who interviewed Professor Olivette Otele. Professor Otele is one of the 2024 City Lit Fellows. City Lit Fellowships were established by the Board of Governors in 2015. City Lit Fellowships are awarded to individuals who have shown a significant commitment to adult education in the United Kingdom and who have provided support and inspiration to City Lit and our students. Professor Otele is truly an inspiration. She made history by being the first Black woman to be appointed a professorial chair in History in the UK in 2018! She is an expert on the links between history, memory, and geopolitics in relation to French and British colonial pasts. I look forward to reading her book, African Europeans: An Untold History. Perfect timing to come across this book given this year’s theme for Black History Month in the UK is Reclaiming Our Narrative. When I get a chance to read it, I will share with you. One thing that resonated with me from Professor Otele is her optimism that our brightest days are ahead and more of our stories will be told. I believe it too.
